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New START Treaty Sets Stage for Further Limits and Reductions in Nuclear Arms

Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller of Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance today stated that full implemetation of New START Treaty sets the stage for further limits and reductions in nuclear arms.

At the United States Naval Academy, Ms. Rose Gottemoeller stated that two years ago in Prague, President Obama spoke about his vision of a world without nuclear weapons, and recognized the need to create the conditions to bring about such a world.

"The United States has been working diligently on the Prague agenda ever since, which includes stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, reducing nuclear arsenals, and securing nuclear materials. Last April, we took three steps toward creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons."-Ms. Gottemoeller

The first step was the release of the Nuclear Posture Review, or NPR, which reduces the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy and extends negative security assurances to all non-nuclear weapon states party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) who are in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations.

The second step was the signing of the New START Treaty with Russia, which took place on April 8 of last year, in Prague.

And the third step was the Nuclear Security Summit which President Obama hosted in Washington on April 12-13, during which world leaders from 47 countries reached a consensus that nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security, and joined the U.S. in its call to secure all vulnerable nuclear material in four years.

According to Ms. Gottemoeller that the New START Treaty with Russia is very important because the United States and Russia control more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. The New START Treaty responsibly limits the number of strategic nuclear weapons and launchers that the United States and Russia deploy, while allowing the United States to maintain the effectiveness of its nuclear deterrent.

Ms. Ms. Gottemoeller emphasized that when the New START Treaty is fully implemented, it will result in the lowest number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by the United States and the Russian Federation since the 1950s, the first full decade of the nuclear age.

Source: U.S. Department of State